A gambler came within one pick of a $2.6 million payout with a bet placed on all 4 golf majors
When Justin Thomas won the PGA Championship on Sunday, he sent most people who bet on him home extremely happy. But for London-based professional golfer Jordan Bakes, Thomas' win was rather crushing.
Before the 2017 major season started, Bakes made a bold bet for £2, attempting to pick the four winners of the men's golf majors, parlayed together all in one bet. In order to win the bet, Bakes would have to get all four winners correct, but the payout would be a big one - £2.0 million (US$2.6 million).
For his selections Bakes went with Sergio Garcia to win the Masters, Brooks Koepka to take the U.S. Open, Rickie Fowler to top the leaderboard at the Open Championship, and Justin Thomas to win the PGA Championship.
It was a bold bet, a fact reflected in the fact that he was given literal million-to-one odds. It was a bet made even bolder by picking four golfers who had never won a major before.
After Sergio Garcia took the Masters and Koepka won the U.S. Open, people became aware that Bakes had the opportunity to do something special. Golf Digest wrote up the bold bet, and Bakes went back to Twitter to update his followers to his progress.
Unfortunately, Jordan Spieth's dominant performance at the Open Championship quickly crushed any hopes that Bakes had of cashing his ticket. It was still a long-shot bet to get through, but it was finally gone with Fowler finishing tied for 22nd.
Bakes was probably over his loss, but when Thomas began to make his push up the leaderboard on Sunday, Bakes was quick to take note.
And when Thomas finalized the win, Bakes was rightfully devastated.
Bakes had correctly called three out of four major winners for the season, and was just one win away from a seven-figure payday. Had he bet all of his bets individually, he could have won a ton of money, but instead, he was stuck only with a receipt that showed just how close he was.
While Bakes was obviously disappointed with the final result of his bet, he has already worked out a way that Fowler can make it up to him.
And if you like his betting style and want to be sure not to miss the next time Bakes is about to cash in on a winner, he's already got his next pick locked and loaded.